Leaf Gaiden
by shokudo
Summary: Obito's been brought back exactly one month after his "death". Only thing is, no one knows where he was, or who brought him back, not even him! How will his presence as a Konoha shinobi alter the Naruverse? DISCONTINUED - RE-WRITE UP
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: What if Obito survived and was brought back to Konoha by unknown means? Read on to find out! But worry not, everything that seems like a plot hole will be explained in it's own time. Also know, this is ongoing, meaning the story will not be ending without at least hopefully one-hundred, maybe two-hundred fifty. No joke. I'm being serious. So enjoy the story, thanks for reading and don't forget to review!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, you think I'd be writing fanfiction?**

 **Chapter 1: Welcome Back, Obito!**

 _Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep…_

The endless beeping of a heart monitor awoke the raven haired Uchiha. He took in his surroundings; plain white walls, a set of chairs to his left by a window, and a little table with his goggles to his right. He must have been in a hospital.

But how, why? Shouldn't he be dead? Shouldn't he be stuck under a boulder about... fifty times his size? He must've been rescued. He was alive! But his eye… The raven reached for his left eye subconsciously, and found it still there. But again, how? A donor, maybe? But who would donate an eye to _him_? He wasn't anyone special, and didn't have that many friends outside his team. Obito sat up in the hospital bed, going over the questions shooting throughout his brain.

Being the natural optimist, he decided to go over the positives instead. He could develop his sharingan even further, so maybe he beat up Kakashi now. Maybe Rin could release him from the friend zone! He probably got a scar from the boulder, he must've looked so cool! Obito looked at his arm to check for scars, as far as he could remember he was smashed by a freakin' boulder.

What the-?

His arm was white. Bone white. He checked his feet. They were fine, thankfully. His right leg looked like it went through hell and back but, still fine. But his torso, white as chalk. Wait what if his face was white too?! What would everyone think now, what would _Rin_ think now?! He needed a mirror, _fast_.

Yanking off the blankets, Obito scrambled off the bed ripping off the monitor devices in the process. As he stared at his reflection, shocked with what he was seeing. Shocked enough to yelp at the sight of his own reflection. The right side of his face was scarred completely, resembling wrinkles, and his left eye was fine for some reason.

Obito's train of thought was interrupted once the door flung open, hitting him square in the face, revealing his teammates Rin and Kakashi. They apparently rushed in, the monitoring tool's removal had probably alerted them.

Kakashi stepped into the room and closed the door, getting over his initial shock.

Obito beamed at his teammates, entangling them in a group hug. "It's you guys! I thought I was a goner!" He released them. "So how did you guys come back? I thought everything closed in."

His comrades stiffened at the mention of the bridge mission, but the former kept his calm facade, folding his arms. "It did."

"What?" Obito asked, confused. "So who came back?"

"You don't know?" Rin asked.

"Wait, it wasn't one of you two? Or Minato-sensei?"

"No. You were right outside the vllage gates unconscious when ANBU found you. So we want to know,"

"Where were you?" Rin finished.

The raven blinked. What were they getting at? "Is this an interrogation?"

"Yes." His silverheaded teammate answered.

"But why would I be-"Obito stopped himself, "How long was I out?"

"You've been asleep for four days now. You've been legally dead for a month."

The raven thought about it, piecing together his most recent memories. But everything seemed the same; sharingan, rin rescued, boulder, pain. That was it. Did he not remember? Was he amnesiac? In his line of work, it probably wasn't too far off. But if the village sent his teammates to question him, why wasn't he in a T&I room?

Maybe he already was.

Obito activated his sharingan, and slowly the illusion faded. He found himself in an interrogation room, complete with the two-way mirror on one side of the room, a door with a chair lodged in it, and the hardened stares of Inoichi Yamanaka, and... who was that guy, I... Ibiki? He was at the chunin exam's, yeah. But hold on, what was he doing here? He didn't know him all that well, but wasn't he his age?

Obito looked around the room once more, and this time kept his gaze at the two-way mirror. He was in an interrogation. He was being interrogated.

God help him.

Ibiki spoke first, "He broke the genjutsu, Inoichi, you can stop now."

Inoichi, who had his hands in the signature Yamanaka hand seal, set them to his sides, keeping his gaze locked onto Obito. "Apparently he has no recollection of anything after the kannabi bridge mission, or anything about his new...'appendage'."

Obito decided to speak up. "Does...does that mean I can go home now?" Ibiki's stare hardened. "Please?"

Ibiki thought about it. The kid didn't remember anything after his "death", so what do they do with him, wait for him to heal if he hasn't already and have him doing C-ranks for next month? He Definitely wasn't an impostor, his memories were the same, so it should have been pretty simple. But he was also thought dead for a month. His name was on the konoha monument for God's sake! Then there was Danzo…

Ibiki cringed, then brushed his thoughts away. He was an up and coming interrogation specialist, not the hokage. Let Minato deal with this shit.

"Alright then, get dressed and get out of here, the hokage wants to see you."

Obito didn't actually expect to set free that easily, what did Sarutobi want with him? "Really?"

"Yeah, you're not what we thought we thought you were, so leave." Ibiki showed off one of his bone-chilling grins. "Unless you wanna stay. There's a cell saved just in case."

The man needn't say more. The raven left, but not before thinking back to the illusion. Was he really gone for a month? Kakashi made it seem as if he was rescued right after everything went south. And what Ibiki said...did the Third really think he was an impostor? Tucking the thoughts away for now, he left.

And with him gone, the men were able to speak freely.

Ibiki spoke first. "So what do you think?"

"Don't know, I'd say someone took him then mind wiped him, but the only people who specialize in mind related jutsu is my clan." Ibiki thought on that. "I'll have to check."

"Alright then." Ibiki agreed.

 **With Obito**

Babies cried, mothers covered their children's eyes, and people just stared in a mixture of fear, and curiosity as Obito Uchiha walked on his way to the Uchiha district.

Were his scars really that bad? They looked pretty bad in the genjutsu but it probably was an exaggeration. Obito was a ninja, these things happened all the time to shinobi like him. they shouldn't be this surprised. But then he remembered, his hitai-ate wasn't with him.

Still, they didn't have to stare like that. Oh no, what'll Rin think? He bet he looked like the two-faced demon who decided the fate of his peers with a flip of his coin like in the scary stories shared over campfire on missions.

The raven shook those thoughts away. He was over thinking things, Rin will like him just the same, no matter what he looked like. He was sure of it!

"Obito? Obito!"

Speaking of Rin...

He recognized her voice easily. Obito remembered her fair skin, and her beautiful short hair that framed her face.

With an _oof!_ from Obito Rin crashed herself into Obito, squeezing him tight, as if afraid he would be gone if she let go for even a second.

Rin held her grip on the Uchiha "It's really you," She let go, and looked at the scarred side. "But your eye, how?"

Of course. She was confused about his eye. In all honesty, so was he.

"Yeah, I think it's a donor, but I don't really know who gave it to me."

"Oh."

Obito pulled one of his signature smiles and placed a proud finger on his chest "I'm on my way to the hokage mansion, apparently the big guy wants to see me."

"Can I come with?!" Rin asked suddenly.

"Sure, no problem let's go." Obito went to walk forward, but something held him back.

Rin firmly held his arm in place, immobilizing him. "Not looking like that we are." Rin motioned towards his clothing. To be fair, he did just walk out of T&I. Grey jumpsuits were the new style over there.

"Well, any ideas?"

Rin contemplated her options, then she remembered something. "I know just the thing." Rin walked off into the opposite direction, Obito's arm still in her grip.

"Um, R-Rin, my hand." He could feel the heat radiating off his cheeks.

The brunette looked back at him once, then turned foward, nearly just as flushed. "Nope."

He didn't question why she was holding her hand, or where they were going. She wanted to hold his hand, who was he to question it?

"Achoo!" Obito sneezed

"Bless you."

 **Hokage Mansion**

Konohagakure was well known for it's peace, stability, and more importantly, the Will of Fire.

"Obito Uchiha should not be allowed to roam free without close observation. there is too much we do not know" Danzo Shimura, warhawk of konohagakure, sat in the council booth, staring down Minato Namikaze with his one good eye.

He carried the will of fire as well, but unfortunately, the old geezer was an extremist, and a hardass to boot. He believed instilling fear and building power was the village's only chance for prosperity. In times like these, Minato idly wondered if he was alive only because of Hiruzen's benevolence.

Danzo was a frail old man, who would normally walk with a cane. He had black shaggy hair, and an x-shaped scar on his chin. Half of his face was covered in bandages save for said eye and chin.

Minato really wanted this meeting to be over and done. While he wanted answers as well, Obito was still his student. He was sure he'd tell the interrogation unit everything they need to know, the kid was practically an open book. "That is not necessary. Obito Uchiha is being questioned as we speak. When he is proven safe you will all have nothing to fear, I guarantee it."

"And what about the unnatural substance within his torso, or how his eye is still in it's socket when your mission report stated that it was removed, and given to his teammate."

Minato sighed irritably."Again, he is being questioned as we speak." An ANBU agent appeared on Minato's side, and whispered something incoherent to the councilmen, including Danzo, then disappeared in a shunshin.

"Good news?" One of the councilmen asked

"Actually, yes." Minato began. "The interrogation's been completed, you all have nothing to fear. Dismissed, all of you."

Good, nothing drastic would have to be done, but he didn't remember anything after the kannabi bridge mission. That meant more meetings like these until he miraculously did remember. As Danzo walked towards the hokage, the fourth Hokage braced himself, remembering all of his rehearsed comments and remarks.

"Obito Uchiha is an unknown variable with too many things not known about him. So remember, this is not over, _boy_." With that, the warhawk left the meeting room.

He inwardly wondered if people would suspect foul play if the old man suddenly had a heart attack one day.

 **With Obito**

Turned out she was leading him to a department store.

Were his clothes that bad? In his defense, he had just walked out of T&I not twenty minutes ago.

"Rin, is this really necessary?" Obito asked from the changing room, having just about four outfits picked out.

"Yes, Obito you look like you just walked out of T&I."

"I did."

"I know, but no one else has to."

With an exasperated sigh, Obito accepted his defeat, and took a blue sweater with orange trimming Rin handed him.

…

Twenty minutes and seven outfits later, Obito admired his new look in the mirror inside the changing room.

He now wore a dark blue high-collar Uchiha shirt with orange trimmings, and an orange long-sleeved undershirt with regular dark blue shinobi pants. He had to wear a glove to hide his "skin condition", however.

Satisfied, the raven gathered the discarded clothes and made his way out the changing room. Rin sat patiently on the bench outside.

"What do you think?" Obito asked Rin, who stood up, and took half his load of clothes.

Rin sized him up, and nodded her head. "Pretty good, Obito."

"Heh, thanks."

After the pair put the clothes in the bin, and exited the store, Obito began thinking. The genjutsu said he was brought back to Konoha a month later, yet he was unconscious for a couple days. That suggested he was rescued, but how did he not remember any of it? Did he hit his head real hard or something?

"Hey, Obito."

"Yeah?" The raven answered.

"What happened?" the brunette asked.

"What do you mean?"

Rin kept her gaze forward, her expression unreadable. "I mean, you were gone for a while, were you hurt?"

Obito thought for a moment, and answered her question with all the honesty he could muster.

"I don't know."

She waved it off. "Alright."

That was one of the things Obito admired about her. She never tried to probe anything out of Obito whenever something was bothering him, and waited patiently for him to tell her himself even as they were kids, like the wonderful person she was.

But when Rin did that Obito felt obligated to tell her whatever she wanted to know. And that was the problem, he had no answers to give. He wished he could lie and just make something up so she wouldn't stare at her feet like she did when her bracelet was almost lost.

But again, he had no answers, he couldn't try to lie his way out; she'd see right through him. Well, anything about his disappearance anyway.

"Where's Kakashi?" Obito asked.

"ANBU business." She waved it off.

Now that made him stop in his tracks. Kakashi was in ANBU? He was only gone for a month, dammit! How did someone go from jonin to ANBU in just a month? Well this was just perfect. How was Obito supposed to kick his ass now? He'd have more experience, and with his new sharingan eye, he'd be able to see through every move, every genjutsu, every jutsu, freakin' _everything._ "ANBU? He's in ANBU now?"

"Well, not yet, he has to lead one more mission and they'll take him in."

Okay, good. He still had a chance, he only had to train harder now. Obito was no pushover, he made it to chunin as a rookie, after all. He could do anything he put his mind to! That's what Minato-sensei always said anyway.

Speaking of him, "Hey, where's sensei?"

Rin looked back at him, confusion evident in her expression. "Didn't you say you had to see him?"

"What? No, I have to see the hokage."

Rin blinked a couple times, staring at Obito for a few moments, until she finally got it. "Oh, well after the brid-" she stopped herself, sorrow occupying her features; something Obito noticed "Minato-sensei's hokage now."

"Oh...well, that's awesome!" Obito beamed, hoping his toothy grin would ease Rin's nerves. He grew concerned when she didn't respond. "Hey, Rin, you okay? You looked kinda lost for a second."

Her train of thought was interrupted. "Yeah, yeah i'm fine."

As the pair continued their trek to the hokage tower, Obito could not help but wonder what was going on inside his teammate's mind, even if it was for a second.

 **Flashback**

 _Things were never the same after the bridge mission. For anyone, really. Minato probably drowned himself in his hokage work now. And Kakashi kept to himself; only sparing Rin a glance except for missions. While it was quite understandable, It made Rin feel irrelevant, unimportant._

 _Alone._

 _So she hadn't expected to see Minato-sensei's wife during one of her early morning walks. As Rin analyzed her, she noticed Kushina was still in her regular clothes; a sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress, suggesting Kushina had been up for a while. Her eyes darted left and right, almost as if searching for something. Had she lost something? Hopefully it wasn't anything too important, as the girl contemplated turning around so she wouldn't have to speak to her. It wasn't anything personal, but the mornings like these seemed like the only times she was in intentional solitude. But Unfortunately, the red-haired beauty had already seen the poor girl, and raised her hand in a hello._

 _With no other options available, Rin made her way towards Kushina, curiosity building up inside. Why was she here? A woman like Kushina was probably up at at em' early in the morning, but Rin had always assumed she would be spending time with Minato-sensei._

" _Hey Rin." Kushina greeted_

" _Hello Kushina, up and at em early in the morning?" Rin replied_

 _Kushina continued walking, with Rin following suit. "Well, Minato was still asleep, and I made breakfast so I figured, 'what the hell?' why not take a walk."_

 _That was strange. Minato-sensei was known for his punctuality and on timeness. "All that paperwork finally getting to Minato-sensei?"_

" _Probably, I've never seen him so stressed out." Kushina thought for a moment, debating whether or not she should tell her what's going on. Rin was his comrade, she deserved to know. But it was still an S-rank secret, and Kakashi wasn't faring so well anyway. But if she knew that boy, he would break down and tell Rin sooner or later. So it was only logical Rin should know as well._

" _But, It might have something to do with Obito." Kushina peered down at Rin, searching for a reaction. The girl visibly tensed, but for just a moment._

" _What about him?" Rin asked, gazing at the street ahead._

 _Kushina stopped walking, causing a confused Rin to stop as well. "Obito's back."_

 _The look on Rin's face was priceless,her eyes widened to almost comical proportions. "WHAT!"_

 _All hopes for a nice, peaceful morning walk ended right then and there. If anyone was still asleep before, they were wide awake now._

 _Kushina looked around for any eavesdroppers, then back at Rin "But you have to stay quiet about it; It's an S-rank secret. He's being treated right now, and then he'll be interrogated until deemed safe."_

 _"So that's why you were walking here this early!" Rin said, whisper-yelling._

" _Well I thought you had a right a right to know!" Kushina whisper-yelled as well._

" _You couldn't tell me after he was interrogated?!"_

" _You would've known be then!"_

" _Well, Minato didn't feel right about keeping something like this from you!"_

 _Rin sighed. She knew Kushina was right, and that she meant well, and she probably would be pretty pissed if this was kept from her. But that didn't mean she had to like it. There were too many things that could go wrong. Worst case scenario, Obito's return would be nothing more than a fake posing as him, or that could be Obito, but his mind is all messed up like in those books Obito had read. Or maybe she could just be thinking like a pessimist and this was the real Obito._

 _But did Kushina say he was being treated?_

" _Wait, what's Obito being treated for?"_

 _Kushina visibly stiffened, and avoided eye contact. "Well, that's the thing,"_

 _Now Rin was getting scared. "What?"_

 _Kushina sighed, before finally returning eye contact. "He's in a light coma, Rin. When he came back he wasn't awake."_

 _B-but he'll be okay, right?" Rin stuttered._

 _Kushina's expression remained emotionless. "That's up to him"_

 _Rin gasped, and ran into the direction of her home, tears already forming in her eyes._

 **Flashback End**

"-in?" "Rin?"

"Y-yeah?" Rin asked, unaware of the concern spread out in his face.

"You sure you're okay?" Obito asked. She spaced out twice already.

"Yeah, Obito, I'm fine."

 **At Hokage Tower**

Minato Namikaze was considered many things; genius, prodigy, even the child of prophecy, a title bestowed by his sensei Jiraiya, of course.

"Why can't that pompous little ass just mind his own damn business?!"

His wife, however, was nearly the opposite. Especially when it came to Minato's students. She had made her way into the mansion to discuss Obito after her husband hadn't return home for three days straight. Walking into his office however, she noticed the dark lines under his eyes and felt her frustrations diminish into concern.

That was, until Minato told her about his little "confrontation" with Danzo, said pompous little ass.

"Kushina, its _Danzo_. No matter what anyone does, he'll always object unless it benefits him in some sort." Minato assumed a thinking position, holding his chin. "But how exactly does he benefit from being-"

"A pompous little ass?" Kushina finished.

"Well, I wouldn't word it like that exactly, but yeah."

As the not-that old married couple thought on that, kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves across Minato's desk.

"Sensei, Kushina" Kakashi acknowledged, bowing slightly.

"Kakashi."

"Hey Kakashi, What's up! I barely see you anymore y'know?" The redhead greeted.

"Sorry Kushina." kakashi turned his attention back to his teacher. "Has Obito been interrogated yet?"

The Yellow Flash of Konoha smiled slightly, glad that Kakashi was worried for a comrade. It wasn't that Kakashi was heartless, but ever since the bridge mission, the boy seemed to have turned over a new leaf, valuing in teamwork over being a by-the-book ninja.

"Yes, he's been deemed safe by Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka for about a couple hours now." Minato answered, noticing the boy's face light up for just a moment.

"Y'know, he's on his way right now." Kushina said, looping an arm around the boy."

Kakashi looked between the woman on his shoulder, and the hokage in front of him. "Right now?"

The door burst open, revealing a beaming Obito, and a smiling Rin following.

"Hey sensei, why didn't anyone tell me you were hokage?!"

Minato smiled and shook his head, some things just never change. "Hello, Obito. Did Ibiki treat you well?"

"It wasn-" Obito couldn't finish his sentence as for the second(or third time, if an illusion counts) time, Obito received another hug from from Kushina this time. He'd high five himself, but Kushina's hugs were known to be rather spine splitting.

"Do us all a favor and never die again, y'know! You had us all worried sick, Rin almost-"

"Hey, Kakashi say hi to Obito!" A flustered Rin cut in, saving her from utter embarrassment. That story was for another day…

Obito turned to Rin, confusion evident in his features. "Almost what?"

Kakashi walked to Obito, and placed the raven into an awkward man hug. Obito awkwardly pat his back a couple times, one arm on his sides. "Yeah, I'm back. Miss me?"

"Listen to Kushina, don't ever do that again." Kakashi said, releasing Obito from his grip.

"Yeah yeah, I'll try." Obito replied, hands scratching the back of his head, a sheepish expression adorning his face.

"So who should fill him in on what's happening so far?" Kushina asked

Rin spoke first. "Well, there's not much he missed."

Obito turned to Rin, "What do you mean? I was gone for a month, _lots_ of things can happen in a month." Obito pointed at Kakashi "Kakashi made jounin in a month."

"But that didn't just happen, remember? Sensei talked me into it because I'm the most skilled one here." Kakashi said in his usual, aloof manner.

"Hey! Don't confuse skill for favorite playing." Obito returned

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kakashi challenged, walking towards Obito.

"You know what it means!" By now the boys were in the middle of a verbal/staring showdown.

As the boys bickered, Kushina watched the scene unfold with an amused gaze. Things were beginning to go back to normal. Minato wasn't as stressed, Obito and Kakashi were still bickering,

"Come on you two, you're both skilled,"

And Rin was still playing peacemaker.

"Alright, alright. Enough, you two." Minato

Obito was the first to end the skirmish. The raven haired Uchiha began chuckling, said chuckling quickly escalated to laughing. Kakashi followed suit, then soon everyone in the room was a laughing mess

"Just like old times," Obito thought out loud.

" _Ahem_!" Minato's fake cough brought the genin's attention. "Now that you're all here, I should assign you your first mission together." The Yellow Flash said,

No way…

No _freakin'_ way…

A mission? Already? Was he _that_ good? Back from the dead for like, a couple of hours and Obito Uchiha finally gets a mission! He could see how good he was with the sharingan, or maybe even fight a super powerful badass enemy! Rin and Kakashi would finally acknowledge him, he would show everyone how awesome he really was!

While Obito was thinking of the opportunities this mission would provide, the boy was jumping up and down flailing his limbs in a… sort of victory dance. Or whatever that was. "YES! YES! Woohoo!"

"Kakashi, Rin, you're mission is to…"

Obito remained quiet as the three genin leaned forward in anticipation, the former barely containing his excitement.

"Watch over Obito until he recuperates." Minato said with an amused look on his face, while Kushina awaited eagerly for their reactions.

She definitely got her money's worth. Obito visibly deflated, while Kakashi just looked emotionless as ever, his distaste expression showing to anyone who knew him well enough. Rin was actually fine with the mission, she had been wanting to spend more time with their newly-returned teammate anyway.

Obito sprung back up from said deflation "WHAT! No way! I'm back, i'm probably better than ever, I deserve a super awesome mission dammit!" Obito yelled, holding out an accusatory pointer finger.

"Obito, you've been awake for less than 24 hours." Minato deadpanned.

Obito deflated once more, and sheepishly held an arm at the back of his neck. Well, the man did have a point. "Oh, uh. Right, sorry."

"It's fine, Obito. You actually remind me of myself at your age." Kushina said

Rin interjected this time. "So, what do we do, just watch him at his house, or does he stay with one of us?"

Minato thought on that, about to answer until Kushina spoke first. "That's a good question, one that deserves a good answer."

"That's what I was gonna-" A hand over Minato's mouth effectively silenced him

"Hmm, I wonder…" Kushina said, ignoring the flailing man she was trying to control. It was obvious she was stalling something, pretending to be thinking. Rin's eyes widened and her cheeks tinted red as she caught on to Kushina's game.

"Obito, you'll be staying with Kakashi for the time being." The look on Rin's face was priceless, her blush intensified after thinking she would be living with Obito. In all honesty, her parents probably wouldn't approve anyway, she still remembered their faces when she told them she wanted to be a ninja at the tender age of five and a half.

"Hey Rin, you alright. You're really red." A concerned Obito said, placing his hand atop her cheek. The concerned look on his face if possible made her blush intensified, giving her the impression of a tomato.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Rin said, removing his hand from her cheek, tuning out Kushina's snickering.

"Are you sure, Rin? You don't need Obito to look after you do you?" A teasing Kushina asked.

"So when should we get his stuff?" Kakashi asked, once again saving her from Kushina's seemingly endless teasing.

Minato answered, by now free from Kushina's monster grip. "Whenever you feel best."

 **Author's Note: Hope it was long enough! 5k words is not an easy landmark to reach y'know? The chapters will be longer as the story goes on don't worry. I'm thinking of doing a little timeskip in the first few chapters to make way for the action scenes though. And who knows, maybe the rating will go up! As you can see, I have lots of hopes for this story. But remember, reviews would be greatly appreciated, not because they boost my ego... that much, but also because they let me know what I'm doing right or wrong. Like did I write Obito's character correctly? I maybe sorta used Naruto's character for reference. Anyway thanks for reading love you bye! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'd like to apologize for the… "errors" in Chapter 1. The first time I published the story, I accidentally copied and pasted it three times thinking the story wasn't editing properly. I fixed it and tried to save over and over, but the changes wouldn't show on the site. Posting fanfiction should not be that hard, dammit! Anyway I looked up the problem and it said I had to edit the story as a whole and add a new chapter, so I slaved for hours and hours writing it and trying my best to make chapter 2 5k words and post it as fast as humanly possible, so thanks for your patience and hopefully this makes up for the mistake. Sorry everyone!**

 **Chapter 2: Spar between two repressed sharingan!**

Obito Uchiha's return from the grave made bigger news than originally anticipated. According to them, the boy was an outcast, living in the less populated area of the Uchiha district with his grandmother before her passing. But still, he was an Uchiha, and when he was discovered just outside the village gates with _both_ sharingan eyes active, with one already achieving _mangekyou,_ the Uchiha Clan demanded he be reinstituted into the clan.

So basically, with all the potential the boy now carried, the Uchiha wanted their Obito back. Even if the Hokage was being a pain in the ass about it.

"Fugaku, no. Before the bridge mission, the boy was known as the black sheep of the Uchiha Clan, and now that he has his sharingan, you expect me to just let Obito, _my student_ return to the same place he was belittled constantly for thirteen years? You think he'd even _want_ to go back?" Minato asked, annoyed with Fugaku's persistence.

Minato wasn't usually very passionate about business matters, but this had not been the first time someone from the Uchiha Clan entered his office, demanding Obito be returned to where he "rightly belonged". First it was a council member, then the chairman, now that Obito had been discharged for about a week now they sent the big boss knocking on Minato's door.

Fugaku Uchiha

Of course Minato knew he would come eventually, but he was at least glad after this they would quit buggin him. It was like they said; Take down the head, and the body falls.

No pun intended.

"What he wants doesn't matter. He has Uchiha blood coursing through his veins, no matter how much you try to keep him from us, he will always be ours." Fugaku said, halfway to one-hundred in seven minutes.

"Fugaku, listen to me." Minato looked up, determination radiating from his gaze. "For as long as I am Hokage, Obito will not be in that compound unless that is what he wishes. Like it or not, you, as the Uchiha clan head, have brought this upon yourself."

"..."

"You are dismissed."

Reluctantly, Fugaku rose from the chair directly across Minato's desk, resisting the urge to hurl it at him, and made his way to the door, only to pause and share a glance with the Fourth Hokage promising further action, before leaving.

After waiting until he was gone, Minato addressed the ANBU on the other side of his office. "Watch Obito, keep him safe."

The agent disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Minato sighed. It wasn't that he _didn't_ trust Obito's skills. In truth, in a couple more years the boy may even surpass _him_ one day. It was the Uchiha. He was sure they would attempt to sway Obito into moving back into the compound.

Because while Obito Uchiha was certainly a splendid ninja, he valued family just as much as teamwork, so if the clan sent someone, the boy would feel oligated to follow their instructions. But the ANBU would step in, and remind whoever sent _and_ Fugaku of their little chat.

Maybe having Obito move in with Kakashi wasn't as good an idea as originally intended.

 **Kakashi's Apartment**

Kakashi Hatake was a very introverted person, even as a little kid, so he hadn't been exactly thrilled when Kushina revealed his teammate's new living arrangements. But, he tried to follow Obito's example and be optimistic about the entire ordeal.

"Hey Kakashi!"

It hadn't been working. It turned out Obito Uchiha was incapable of living with another human being. The boy was a _monster_. The raven-haired Uchiha dirtied more dishes then that ramen stand near the academy, and he never kept track of his stuff, meaning Kakashi had to help him find whatever he lost in that steigh of a room Kakashi gave him. Thank God Rin came every few hours to make them both breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"What!" Kakahi yelled from the desk in his room. He'd would've bet his entire secret Icha Icha collection he lost something.

"I found this book… Icha Icha on the floor, but it says volume two. Do you have volume one? Looks like a good read."

Kakashi nearly fell off his chair hearing that. Those were supposed to be _private_ , how did it end up on the floor?! The son of the White Fang rushed over to his comrade, intent on retrieving his precious book.

But the smirk on Obito's face demolished any hope of his rescue plan.

Kakashi searched for a way out. "What do you want?" Kakashi asked, already knowing the answer.

"The mask off." The raven answered, that smirk still present on his face. Luckily, this hadn't been the first time Obito had demanded he take off his facemask. Rin had asked once, but she had the decency to ask discretely, with no one else around.

After a minute's hesitation, Kakashi's hands slowly reached his face. Again, this had not been the first time he was blackmailed into the removal of his mask. So, like any experienced shinobi, the silver haired ninja created a contingency plan.

Obito's features glittered in anticipation as Kakashi's fingers gripped the edges of his mask. Finally the moment he had been waiting for, Kakashi's face revealed! The raven haired Uchiha almost wished he had a camera to save the moment and rub it in his face forever. The son of the White Fang's mask was yanked off his face revealing…

another mask.

The raven's triumphant grin faltered, and became a heated glare, but before he could retort, someone knocked on the door. Kakashi gleefully made his way past Obito, eye-smiling all the while, much to Obito's annoyance. The Uchiha tossed the book on the floor, it's usefulness now expired, now lost with all the other junk.

"Hey Obito, I've got lunch." Rin greeted, walking into the little apartment.

Kakashi's fake face reveal was quickly forgotten "Really? What's on the menu today, ice cream? Cake? No wait, dango!" Obito asked, similar to the way a child would ask for a new toy.

"Obito, do you even touch the vegetables I give you?" Rin asked, rolling her eyes.

Obito avoided eye contact. "Y-yeah, of course I do."

"No he doesn't." Kakashi contradicted from the couch. "He expects me to eat them."

Rin gave Obito a disappointed look.

"H-he's lying, Rin! I swear!" Obito said, waving his hands in a panicked manner. Rin giggled, she thought it was cute, remembering how Obito always stuttered when he lied.

Rin narrowed her eyes a small bit. "Mhmm."

"So, what's in the box." The raven asked, quickly trying to change the subject before he was forced to eat that salad he didn't like, while addressing the piece tupperware in Rin's hands.

"You were right the third time, it's dango."

Obito reached for the container when Rin slapped his hand away. The raven gave Rin a look that betrayal. "Rin, why?" Obito whined.

"You can have that after you've eaten that breakfast salad I made this morning." The girl ordered.

"What! How do you even know I didn't eat it?!"

"I'm always watching, remember?"

That shut him up real fast. "Fine." The Uchiha walked towards the kitchen, intent on eating that damn breakfast salad.

With Rin and Kakashi alone, the former took a seat on the couch next to him. Kakashi saw this as an opportunity.

"You want him?" He asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Kakashi sat up, keeping his pleading gaze on Rin. "I mean Obito, can you take him off my hands? He's the worst!"

"So you don't want him and you want me to take him from you." The brunette asked.

"Don't be like that, if he lives with you he sure as hell won't turn you house into, _this_." The silerhead said, motioning towards his messy apartment.

"Kakashi, I can't. I don't live alone."

"Yeah, that's right…" Her parents. He hadn't thought of that.

They sat in silence, with Kakashi reading his stolen Icha Icha with an upside down fake book cover, and Rin, who had growing curiosity of what the silverhead was reading until Obito returned from his quest to end the breakfast salad.

"Alright, I ate the salad, now gimme the dango!" He commanded, holding his hand out.

The brunette opened the piece of tupperware and awarded Obito his earned dango sticks. The Uchiha in turn devoured them all in under twelve seconds. Rin had originally thought the salad would fill him up. But the guy had a sweet tooth, and when it came to him and any sweet delicacy, it was as if he was eating for two.

When she heard Obito's stomach growl, the brunette thought he was eating for maybe four instead.

After lounging for a bit, team 7 left for the training field. While Obito went to see just how badass he was with his sharingan now, his comrades truthfully wanted to see just how long they'd have to wait for him to fully recuperate.

Stretching, Obito thought of battle plans for victory. Should he use his sharingan right away, or use it as a last resort of things didn't go so hot in the beginning. He knew Kakashi would choose the latter, he was a cocky bastard like that. But the last time he and the silverhead actually sparred, they were equals, and it wasn't until Minato-sensei stopped them both that they had decided to call it a draw.

Rin hoped she wouldn't have to pull them apart like the last time they sparred. They bickered consistently for weeks before they settled for a draw, and sensei had to sit them down after a delivery mission almost went south. She watched as Obito stretched while Kakashi stood watching him, analyzing his every move, probably debating whether to use the sharingan or not.

Rin was correct. Kakashi didn't know whether to use the sharingan after he saw Obito's skills, or resist the temptation and mess with him when he thought he finally stood a chance. He decided to use it when Obito did.

The raven made the first move. He darted towards the silverhead in a very Obito-like straightforward approach. He wouldn't even need the sharingan, he hadn't changed a bit.

Kakashi stood corrected as Obito shunshined to the side and went for a knockout punch. But as Kakashi blocked the punch, the Uchiha simply went through him, then dissipated.

Clone! Kakash's senses ordered him to get away, _fast_. Good thing too, as the raven shot up from beneath the ground.

Good thing too, as the raven shot up from beneath the ground. Luckily, Kakashi gained distance from his opponent just in time to dodge the surprise attack. But since when did Obito know earth-based jutsu?! The Uchiha's prime element was fire, and Obito only used fire-based jutsu before the bridge mission. He obviously underestimated his teammate…

On the ground again, the Uchiha whipped out dual kunai, and charged once more. Kakashi in turn unsheathed his sword, and met his comrade with a horizontal slash. But the Uchiha somersaulted above before the attack could reach him, then turned for a slash once he hit the ground.

Sparks flew as Kakashi blocked the strike with his blade in one hand, his other holding Obito's kunai-occupied hand in place. The Uchiha's smug grin never left his face; he'd been underestimated and they both knew it. He could envision Kakashi's face once he won _without_ his sharingan.

Both shinobi gained distance away from each other, panting as their minds went through strategies at warp speed. Kakashi struggled to understand where this new strength was coming from. Just what the hell happened to him while he was gone? The way it was now, a draw would have been imminent. He couldn't allow that! He was Kakashi Hatake, son of the white fang, top of his class, _and_ rookie of the year, he could do this! All he needed was a plan.

But no oppurtunities presented themselves, he would have to wait until he found an opening.

This might take a while.

Obito's mind raced considerably faster than his rival's, formulating a plan already. Kakashi was having trouble keeping up with him, and his pride wouldn't keep his shaingan tamed much longer, that meant the silverhead would give the rest of the fight his all. But if Kakashi did activate the sharingan, he would have a better chance at winning, since the silverhead probably had more experience with it then Obito.

So his plan was simple; Set up a trap, and make sure Bakakashi didn't use the sharingan to see what was going on.

Making sure he had ninja wire in his back pouch, Obito made for the forest, daring the silverhead to follow.

Of course, Kakashi knew he was being led into either a trap or an ambush, and only gave chase out of curiosity. The Obito he knew never would have thought to trap anyone. He thought back to his assignment, what was it again? Analyze Obito's overall skill as a ninja?

He probably could've ended it now; from what he's seen so far, the Uchiha was in perfect health, and was more than fit for missions. It made little sense to keep him out of action.

The silverhead's train of thought was horribly interrupted as he had to substitute himself for a nearby log to keep the Uchiha's foot from making contact from above. He darted forward into the trees when he made contact with the ground.

The silverhead braced himself for the next attack, only to charge forward to dodge a surprise attack from the ground, and as expected, Obito went for the trees after the attack failed. the Uchiha must have been trying to keep him in a sort of dome and overwhelm him.

In the trees however, the Uchiha couldn't help but smile as he wrapped ninja wire covered in tags around the trees; his plan was actually _working_! Kakashi was clueless to what was happening around him, and his pride kept his sharingan at bay. He probably thought the Uchiha was trying to overwhelm him with attacks from all around, but actually, Obito was tying ninja wire around the trees every time an attack failed. The attacks were just a distraction.

Two more angles, that's all the Uchiha needed for him to win.

And he would have, had Kakashi not decided he'd seen enough and activate his sharingan.

"Yo,"

The Uchiha's confidence gave into shock as he peered to the left, only to see Kakashi on the same branch as the Uchiha,

Sharingan active.

The Uchiha activated his sharingan in turn and gained some necessary distance from his opponent. Kakashi thought he was done for, huh?! Well he was wrong, _way_ wrong. He needed the last two angles so when the tags went off, it would've been controlled, and Obito could've ran out the forest just as the blast went off to look super badass, instead of burrowing himself into the ground like a mole. But hey, shinobi made sacrifices everyday, right?

So with a simple hand seal, the tags went off, Obito was already four feet into the ground, and a third of the forest was engulfed in a gas cloud...

that _reeked_.

Rin knew exactly what the mushroom cloud actually was, but it did little to reassure her that her teamates wouldn't have to be torn apart all over again. The brunette would have asked for an older jonin senesei, but unfortunately, Kakashi _was_ their jonin sensei, and apparently that meant he made the rules.

Soon enough Obito returned from the forest burrowing out the ground with a triumphant grin adorning his face,

Without Kakashi.

"You beat him?" The brunette asked, in an awestrucken voice. She had truthfully beleived Kakashi would win, at least in a close match. It wasn't until Kakashi returned through the same method as the Uchiha that Rin saw the fight as another draw. The silverhead gave his comrade a well deserved pat on the back.

"Good job, you made me use the sharingan," He said, lowering his hita-ate so it concealed his eye.

Obito stood in disbelief that Kakashi had somehow managed to escape his trap, he used all of his tags for that! How did he even get out with the same justsu as him?! The Uchiha held an accusatory finger towards his teammate.

"You, you copied me! How?" He needed to know how, for his own sake.

"Heh, you're an Uchiha, how could you not know? The sharingan allows me to memorize and copy any justsu, yours included." The silverhead explained

"Wait, but I didn't do the ground thing until the tags went off! How would you…" Obito trailed off as he remembered that Kakashi was still there when he used the ground burrough jutsu.

"I see you understand." Kakashi said, seeing the understanding flash in Obito's eyes.

"So is this draw?" Rin asked hopefully. She didn't think she could sit the both of them down if necessary.

The two boys looked at each other, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, a draw." Kakashi spoke for the two.

"But we'll settle it someday." Obito assured,

"You talk as if you'll win." Kakashi challenged.

"That's 'cause I _am_ gonna win."

"Alright, when you become a jonin, we'll see who's better."

"When I become a _jonin_? I'll beat your masked butt right now,"

"You two fought just now," Rin pointed out, "It would be a waste of time since both of you are tired,"

"Ahem."

The trio jumped in surprise upon the stranger's interruption. None of them had sensed him, how could someone conceal their chakra like that?! There was no intent, no emotion, and even this guy's chakra signature was feint, almost as if there was none at all. Kakashi studied him; He wore an ANBU mask, but his attire was different from most ANBU agents as his cloak was black instead of the usual white ones most village ANBU wore. A branch organization maybe?

"Who are you?" The Uchiha asked.

"Obito Uchiha?" The stranger asked.

"Uhh… yes?"

"Do you want, recognition?"

The agent watched Kakashi and Obito's fight from afar. Lord Danzo would be very pleased to know the boy's progress. He didn't think he would manage to recruit him right now, but he would let the Uchiha know he had options for when he eventually turned around. Danzo was right; This boy had monstrous potential that could not afford to be wasted.

"Are you ANBU?" The brunette next to the boy asked.

Just then another agent appearned in front of Team 7, his sword unsheathed. the agaent wore the real ANBU uniform. "No, no he's not."

"So he's impersonating an ANBU agent." Kakashi stated. He too unsheathed his blade, braced for combat if necessary.

"That's a lot of jail time," The Uchiha commented

The fake ANBU began to panic internally. This was not a part of the plan. He was supposed to instill the option into the boy's mind, then leave mysteriously, without a trace. There was no ANBU involved. Lord Danzo would be very upset if the mission was a failure, but what other options were available?

WIth great mental hesitation, the fake ANBU agent disappeared, and the ANBU agent darted after him.

As the trio processed what just happened they all shared the same thought;

Just what did that guy want with Obito?

 **Hokage Mansion**

It turned out the ANBU officer was needed after all.

Some idiot impersonated an ANBU, and when the real one showed up, he fled. Eventually reinforcements were called, the fake was caught, and was brought to T&I where he was being interrogated right now. This only confirmed what Minato already knew though; Obito would have to be guarded, and wouldn't be allowed on missions until this was all cleared up. It was a good thing he was taking a sick leave so he could adjust and refamiliarize himself with his home. Though truthfully not much had changed while he was gone, other than himself becoming hokage of course.

 _knock knock_

"Enter."

Obito burst through the door and was at MInato's desk in a matter of four seconds. "Hey sensei, Guess what? I don't need that recuperating crap anymore! Me and Kakashi sparred today, and I was badass! I can start going on missions by next week! Yeah, up high!" The Uchiha held up his hand in a high five that the hokage returned.

This complicated things further; What was he supposed to say when he found out he couldn't go on missions anymore?

"But there was this guy, an ANBU fake. He started talking about recognition and stuff, it was really strange." Obito explained.

"Tell me about this fake, Obito." Minato commanded.

"Oh," Obito put his arms in a thinking position, trying to remember everything about the fake ANBU officer. There wasn't much to remember, he was only there for like, a minute or two before he was forced to flee. "He had an ANBU mask and cloak, but it was all black. We didn't even sense him either, no intent, or emotion. It was like he wasn't even there."

Minato took all this in, but could not think of a conclusion. Was he from a foreign party? Kumo? Iwa? No, if it was Iwa, Onoki would make sure they knew it was him. A probably would've sent killer B. An investigation would definitely be ordered, and he would have to go through the records, too.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind." The hokage said, tucking in the information for T&I.

"But sensei," The Uchiha began, unsure of how to ask his question.

"Yes?"

"The ANBU came out of nowhere, as if he was there the whole time so, did you assign bodyguards?" He asked.

Minato watched as his plan came crumbling to the ground with that sentence. Not only had there been an ANBU impersonation and probably more fakes out there, they didn't know who the guy worked for yet, and Obito wanted missions again, so now the yellow flash of konoha had two options available; he could have answered truthfully, and basically say Obito wasn't competent enough to take care of himself even inside the village, or he could've lied, and although the Uchiha would've been a bit suspicious, the issue would've simply blown over in it's own time.

So he went with option B.

"No." He answered.

Obito appeared unsatisfied with his answer for a moment, but quickly brushed it off, "Alright sensei," With that the Uchiha made his leave, leaving the hokage alone to go over his next plan of action. A suspicious Obito seemed easier to deal with than a discouraged, pissed off one.

"Achoo!"

"Bless you."

"Thanks." Rin, Kakashi, and Obito sat at the couch, watching the little TV available. The Uchiha didn't really want to go outside, he didn't need to be responsible for one of the civilians having a heart attack. but even if anyone was out there this late, they were probably coming home from work, missions, or something of the sort

And so Obito began his TV marathon after his talk with sensei, where Rin and Kakashi eventually joined him, all in their sleepwear. Apparently Rin was spending the night.

It was nice, all of them hanging out together again. It was too bad they wouldn't get that many moments like these, given the life of a ninja and all. But he could at least enjoy it while it lasted. That was, until he went on missions with again. At least it'd be with them.

Rin was just glad the boys didn't have to be ripped apart again. It seemed they were getting along better than they did during the early days of Team 7. But while they sparred she felt so… useless. She just stood there, and waited until they were finished, she didn't do anything at all! During Obito's "absense" she had promised herself to train even harder so she wouldn't have to feel like baggage, but she never really followed through on it. Minato-sensei wasn't there to train the both of them anymore, Kakashi was. But he wasn't the best leader. He followed through and got results, but he was always disconnected form everything.

Well that just meant she'd have to go outside her comfort zone. Rin already lost Obito once, she'd die before that ever happened again.

 **Author's Note:** **So what's Danzo gonna do now? Nothing, that's what. I know what I'm gonna do with the old crone, but that won't be for like a** _ **long**_ **time. But what about Minato, when's he gonna find out about Root and let Obito go on missions again? It turned out, Obito was dumped at the gates with only** _ **one**_ **mangenkyo active. Foreshadowing!**

 **It seems my writing limit is 4k words, sorry guys. It turns out writing anything 5k is a huge pain in the ass. Just to let you all know, I got confused over which side of Obito was crushed. I thought it was the left :P Don't worry though I fixed it.**

 **And one last thing, I couldn't think of anything else, so I decided to call Kakashi "silverhead". Hopefully it sticks.**

.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I started working on this right after Chapter 2 was posted. Sorry it's real late, some days I wrote and then I… didn't. And just so everyone knows, I've been planning ahead. Like really ahead. Like Naruto Gen ahead. I've even made character sketches for when they finally pop up in the story. Hint: There's gonna be a lot of relatable themes, drama, and romance. But the type of romance that whenever it surfaces, it means something.**

 **I've also been making art for the naruto gen, but I can't post any without spoiling basically everything and now I want to write it right now. Should I? I mean, I wouldn't abandon this, but it would be like a setup, a prequel, but a good one. One that doesn't tell everyone what they already know. Maybe similar to Clone Wars?**

 **You know, I might turn this into a doujinshi when it's almost finished. Just imagine, it'd be an au known all over tumblr and ffn, it'd even have have a tv tropes page! Pfft, as if. Maybe in another year or two. By then I'll be one of those fanfiction legends with 10k words each chapter. But 5k would have to do for now… :(**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Obito would've still been alive after the fourth shinobi world war, Naruto's hair would've been kept to its original length, and Sasuke would've kept his duckbutt do.**

 **Chapter 3: Team 7, meet your new possibly unstable teammate!**

Obito hated Konoha's confinement. It was just so boring! Nothing ever happened there, and even if something did go down, he wouldn't have been able to do anything at all! Not without being told to leave it to someone else. Probably Kakashi.

God, he felt so useless!

Fortunately, the Uchiha and the silverhead were on the same wavelength this time. The former had barged into his sensei's room, with the latter "conveniently" dropping by. The two tried their best to convince Minato-sensei to let them all on missions in vain. Kakashi reminded him of their spar from before, and how Obito was in perfect health, while the Uchiha merely begged for any mission available. Whatever the job

That was his mistake.

Hey, the boy said he'd take anything, so that's exactly what the Hokage gave him.

Anything was apparently the D-Rank no shinobi would accept; cleaning the Inuzuka dog park. Which mostly consisted of picking up ninken dog crap.

"I can't believe you said 'anything'. Why would you say anything in the middle of a negotiation?" Kakashi asked from his spot by the park bench. Farthest away from Obito.

"Hey, be quiet! It's better than sitting around doing nothing isn't it?!" The Uchiha retorted. Kakashi had been bitching the entire time they were there, it was starting to get on Obito's nerves. They already picked up all the trash, only the crap was left. Why couldn't the silverhead be more like Rin? She hadn't said a word in like,ten minutes?

Wait,

"Hey, hey Rin, you alright." The Uchiha asked as he moved in Rin's direction. She wasn't moving, just standing there, doggie bag in hand. The brunette seemed to be focusing on her feet for some… reason.

As Obito drew closer, he saw what was on her shoes. Shoes that exposed her toes. He looked at her face, and saw her expression emotionless. Finally, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"I'm done." The brunette simply declared. Rin dropped her equipment, and left for home to clean her ninja sandals, and sterilize her foot, too.

The Uchiha stood in disbelief. "Well, if she's not gonna be here neither am I." The silverhead followed suit, dropping his equipment and disappearing in a shunshin leaving one shocked and pissed off Obito.

"WHAT?! You get your ass back here right now!" When no one replied, the Uchiha muttered something incoherent about burning down all bookstores in Konoha. He formed the necessary hand seals to create three basic henged clones of himself.

It would be a few minutes until someone came to check on them, but by then the Uchiha would be long gone. Besides, they were assigned to clean the park, which included cans, wrappers, garbage, etc. Definitely not dog crap. The Inuzuka clansmen were probably supposed to pick it up themselves anyways. It was their dogs, after all.

Nodding to himself, the Uchiha left, a job probably well done.

As Obito dashed across the rooftops, he thought back to the spar from a week before. The two would have another one a few days later, but the results would be be the same. They began exchanging fists, trying to overwhelm the other. Then Obito surprised him with the sharingan just as Kakashi was gaining the upper hand. But if someone activates their dojutsu, the other does the same. It was an unwritten rule in the ninja world, sort of like a game of chicken. Activating it was like caving in, saying you couldn't finish the fight with your own power.

Once Kakashi activated it however, the match was set. Kakashi dodged, then copied nearly every jutsu he dished out, then went on the offensive. The silverhead saw each and every hole in Obito's defense.

The spar was over pretty quickly, and made the Uchiha come to one conclusion: He needed to go beyond his clan's techniques, he was too dependent on him. Sure he used what he called the "groundhog" jutsu to escape his comrade's attacks, but that just about it. The rest was fire-based.

But who was he supposed to turn to? Not Kakashi, no way. The silverhead wouldn't let him live it down if he did. Minato-sensei? Would he be too busy? Probably. Being Hokage was apparently a time-consuming task flooded with paperwork. So who, then?

With the apartment building in his sight, the Uchiha silently landed on the ground, and proceeded to walk towards the complex. Maybe he could ask Minato-sensei to just find someone to train him. He couldn't leave a ninja bored out of his skull could he? He sure as hell wouldn't do that once he became hokage!

Obito walked up the stairs. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to be a liability when they finally went on their next mission. The Uchiha reached the correct floor, and walked towards his door. As he produced the correct key, he was surprised to find the door opened by just a tiny creak. Fishing a kunai from his back pouch, Obito opened it all the way and was more surprised to find a girl occupying the couch, just staring at him.

He took note of her appearance; she did break in after all, but stopped midway, face red already. She wore a sleeveless fishnet mesh shirt that did nothing to shield her uhh..."assets" from view. The Uchiha looked away from her shirt and saw her violet hair in a short, spiky, fanned ponytail, with fishnet armbands that reached her elbows, and knee-length fishnet boots. She seemed like a shinobi, but her hitai-ate was missing.

"You gonna keep staring, perv?" She teased, a smirk present.

"What?! I- uh...," The Uchiha stuttered "Y-you were the one who broke in!" The Uchiha stuttered once more, practically feeling the heat radiating off his cheeks.

"You may be right… but I'm still not a pervert." With that the girl relaxed back into the couch, eyes closed. The hokage practically ordered she introduce herself to her teammates before they finished their present mission, which was basically "Babysit the goggles kid until he was well enough to go one missions again", but she didn't see anything wrong with him. He had a couple of scars on his face, but she had seen way worse. The guy was walking just fine, and even had his hitai-ate on! Were they letting everyone take breaks now? Anko never got one day off.

"What-, did you just-" Why was he still stuttering?!. "Who are you, what are you doing here?" His eyes narrowed, and he positioned the kunai so it was facing her.

Anko opened her eyes to glance at him. "Anko Mitarashi, your new teammate." She thought on that. "Well, until you pansies are finished with your 'present mission'." Anko air quoted.

Present mission? What mission was she talking about? They had a mission, right now?! Wait, nope, he remembered what sensei had told them the day of his return. Them "taking care of him" was their present mission. Even though it had already been established that he was perfectly fine. "Does Kakashi know?" The Uchiha asked as he tucked the kunai into his back pouch.

"Cyclops? Yeah, he was just here actually. Probably left to get more of those porn books." Anko said, relaxing into the couch once more.

Obito closed the door, and went to sit on the couch, but couldn't find a spot. Anko took up most of the space. "Uhh, you mind moving?" He asked.

Anko merely half-opened one eye, a grin plastered onto her face."Yes." She dragged out her response. The two kept their gazes on each other, searching for signs of weakness. When he didn't find any the Uchiha sighed, accepting his defeat before moving to the floor, leaning at the foot of the couch. "I sleep there, y'know."

"I'm well aware."

"You gonna be here all day?" Obito asked after a small period of silence.

"Until the other one gets here."

"Other one, you mean Rin?"

"Probably."

Obito thought back to Rin. If he didn't beg for a new mission, her foot wouldn't have gotten dog poop on. She probably mad at him, even if she didn't say so. He frowned, then peered up at Anko. So this was their new teammate. She seemed familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite picture where.

His face scrunched up in thought, she was from somewhere, he just knew it.

"You okay, goggles?" Anko asked, confused as to why he was staring at her like that. He looked like he was ten seconds away from an aneurysm.

"Goggles?" Obito pondered. Wait a sec...

Flashback

Oh no.

Oh, no!

This couldn't be happening, this couldn't happening, why him? He just couldn't understand. He figured a huge fighting tournament would only have just that; fighting! Not written tests, what the hell was the third smoking, cause' it sure as hell wasn't regular tobacco!

The Uchiha looked behind him, towards Rin, desperate for any form of reassurance. She returned a comforting smile, and waved in his direction, effectively putting his mind at ease. That is, until the proctor walked in, and slammed his palms onto the front desk, across from the rows of seats the genin occupied.

"Okay, listen up." A man with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail said."My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and I will be your proctor for this part of the exam." Figures, Obito thought. The Yamanaka Clan were renowned for their information gathering skills, given their secret mind altering jutsu.

Obito calmed a bit. This guy didn't seem so bad.

"You'll all find a sheet of paper in front of you. Now give it a look." Inoichi commanded.

The Uchiha look over his surroundings instead, having already looked over the sheet of paper.

"Now, what you see is a written test. The rules are very simple. Everyone starts out with ten points, and seeing as there are ten questions, one point is taken off for every incorrect answer." He grinned, unnerving the other genin just a bit. "And remember, this is a team test. Wether you all pass or not will be determined by your score combined with your teammates."

Obito gulped. Perfect, they both had to make up for a third person; Kakashi was already a chunin. What if he fucked up and ruined Rin's chances?! Oh man, he was screwed! So screwed! The Uchiha didn't even realize he was hyperventilating until someone tapped his shoulder.

"You alright, pipsqueak?" A feminine voice asked. He turned and was met with the confused stare of the girl next to him, chewing on a dango stick. Scratch that, the very pretty girl next to him chewing on a dango stick. One with a mesh fishnet shirt that did little to hide her uhh, "assets" from view. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, thanks. He said, right before remembering her little quip. "Wait a second, who're you calling pipsqueak, dango girl?!" He whisper-yelled.

"You, goggles!" So did she. The two continued back and forth, whisper-yelling insults and any name they could think of. Obito questioned what he was doing though, he hadn't even caught her name!

"Now, begin." The proctor ordered. The genin looked at Inoichi, their tests, then at each other, having been much too focused on their verbal duel to pay attention to what the proctor was saying.

"Whatever," they thought in unison before looking over their test.

Flashback Over

That's where he remembered her! She! But, why wasn't she with that interrogator Ibiki's squad, didn't she have her own?

"This the other one? She looks hot." Anko teased, looking at the Team 7 picture on the stand near the couch.

Obito's face flushed a bright red. "Wha-what?!"

Sensei's House

Rin was definitely the overlooked member of Team 7. She was by no slouch by any means, but her ability in the medical field was often disregarded. So she decided it wouldn't be best to remain a medic forever. If the brunette was to grow as a shinobi, she would have to broaden her horizons. After doing a bit of research, she discovered Kushina's reputation as the Red Death of Konoha while she was a Jonin.

This was all after she cleaned her foot, of course. Damn those dogs…

As Rin held her hand against the front door, she began to doubt herself. Her potential teacher was already well known for her temper, she doubted her patience would be anything different. What if it ran low when she couldn't master a kata fast enough? Would she bark and scream at her? Or would she simply give up altogether? No, no way Kushina wasn't the type to give up when things got tough, it just wasn't in her.

Taking a deep breath, she held her fist against the door, and knocked twice. The door opened revealing the redheaded beauty. "Hey, Rin. Everything okay?" she asked, looking outside the henges for Obito and Kakashi. She wondered why the brunette had visited her. It wasn't like she had many people over.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was just wondering." Rin took a deep breath. "Could you teach me kenjutsu?"

The older woman's eyebrows raised, then beamed after her surprise had worn off. Rin wanted to learn kenjutsu? That was great! She had always wanted a student to train. Before the brunette knew it, she was being ushered into the house. "Of course! Come in, come in!"

The redhead lead Rin into the huge backyard turned training field, with target posts and dummies at the ready. There was even a pool, most likely for water-walking training. "Wait here." Kushina instructed before running back inside. Although Rin didn't see much of Kushina, it was nice to her this excited at the prospect of teaching her.

Kushina ran back outside with a large scroll, and set it down in front of the brunette to unseal it. Inside were four swords, each one different from the next. "just pick whichever one feels right." Kushina instructed. She watched Rin examine each blade, first the katana, then the tsurugi, the uchigatana, and finally the katate-uchi.

Rin lifted the uchigatana, gave it a few strokes, then set it down. It was unfortunately too big for her small frame, and gave unnecessary weight with each stroke. Next she tried the katate-uchi, before setting back onto the scroll; it gave the same feeling. The brunette looked at the tsurugi. It didn't seem too big nor too small, it probably wasn't as heavy as well.

As she lifted the blade, she found it just as light as mentally promised. She gave it the usual test strokes, and found it practically weightless in her hands! The brunette turned to Kushina, and nodded, letting her know she'd made her choice.

"Tsurugi, good." The older woman complimented, going towards the scroll, and resealing it along with the other swords. "But I have to ask, why didn't you try out the katana?" She asked.

"It looked too heavy." Rin answered. Truthfully, the blade looked too similar to the other ones in the scroll, but she wouldn't say that and risk offending her new teacher.

The tsurugi wasn't as big as a regular katana, and not as short as a wakizashi, but it's origins separated it from the rest; they were shrouded in mystery. The blade held no records whatsoever, and the redhead had absolutely no idea of where her sensei even found it, since technically, it never existed. But then came the catch; It came with no style as well, meaning Rin would have to create her own over time, and that was a double-edged sword.(pun intended.)

"You might wish you had though." Kushina commented.

"W-what?" Rin inwardly groaned; She just messed up, didn't she?

As the girl stuttered, her new teacher couldn't help but giggle; Rin looked just as clueless as Kushina did during her introduction to kenjutsu.

"You might." Kushina reminded. "The blade you chose doesn't have a specific style… yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Think of your sword as a clean slate. No historian knows anything about it except it was used during the days of the First Hokage. Meaning they don't know how anyone used it. We'll stick to the basic katas, and eventually you'll have to make your own." The redhead explained.

"Really? But how am I supposed to do that?" The girl asked.

"LIke I said, basics, then...we'll see what happens. Simple, right?" Kushina already had this planned out; She would teach her the basics, help her create her own fighting style, and once she was ready, a final test.

But she severely doubted that would be anytime soon.

Rin thought it over, taking into consideration her progression with medical ninjutsu. She would have to pick back up on that one day, but it was already decided; She would get stronger for her team, for Obito! "Yep! seems pretty simple to me!"

"Good! Now," In a puff of smoke, a sword was in Kushina's hands. "We begin." The brunette was given little time to react when her teacher charged towards the brunette, blade unsheathed.

Hokage Mansion

Placing Anko on Team had not been an easy decision to make. The council thought it was too soon, that she was too unstable after what Orochimaru had experimented on her. Their idea was to dump her to T&I to tell them everything she knew about the snake, them seal her chakra network. She'd never perform another jutsu again. To them, she was as good as trash.

So Minato thought up the compromise to place her on Team 7, arguing her teammate, Ibiki, was too far engrossed in his Interrogation duties to form Team 2 once more.

The other one, a Hyuga, had disappeared.

Sipping his cup of tea, the fourth Hokage went over the mission request form on his desk. Honestly, the man wasn't exactly sure if it was the right time to let his kids off the figurative leash, but the council pushed for it. For whatever reason Minato didn't know, maybe to watch him and his students fall flat on their faces.

The mission itself was pretty straightforward. It was a rescue mission, B-ranked. Kusagakure needed desperate help, and it surprised Minato that after the war Konoha would be called, considering the fairly recent destruction of the Kannabi bridge. But Kusa was well known for their diplomacy skills, and it was likely they wanted a relationship with Konoha to hopefully put the war behind them.

What was left of Kusa's population was depleting, fast. After the war, it's citizens began vanishing without a trace. No note, no weapon, nothing. It was as if they just up and left. Normally the village would work to solve the problem itself, but the place was already ravaged after the war.

So all in all, the situation was pretty bad.

But he needed to have faith in his kids, they were more than competent shinobi. He taught them all he could, and now they had to make their own decisions. He sighed. He felt the same way he did when he was appointed Hokage.

Minato sensed Kakashi long before he knocked on the door. "Enter." He said, tucking the mission report beneath the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

As Kakashi walked in, Minato noticed his twitching eye, and his unamused demeanor. Minato held in a chuckle. "I take it you met Anko?" He asked.

The silverhead in question took a seat in front of the desk, and kept his gaze on his sensei. "I was in there for two minutes before she… took something from me."

"And just what did she take?" His sensei leaned forward as his curiosity picked up. Maybe today would be the day he admitted to reading Jiraiya's books. He actually read it once, but by the time he finished the third chapter he had gone through four nosebleeds, and two tissue boxes. Maybe that was why Kakashi always wore his mask.

Kakashi averted his gaze, finding the paperweight very interesting for a moment. "Don't worry about it." He settled. "But, why now? We still haven't gotten that mission yet."

"Well, about that," The blond Hokage lifted the paperwork stack, fishing out the mission report. As he handed it to his student, Kakashi's visible eye widened. It was about damn time! He looked it over. "Kusa? But didn't we destroy their bridge?" He asked.

"Y'know, I actually thought the same thing."

After thoroughly scanning the paper, he got up to take his leave, forgetting why he had visited his sensei in the first place. "Thanks, we'll leave in three days." The sharingan user said, folding the mission report and tucking it into his back pouch.

"Alright then, take care." The blond bid his farewell, thinking to Obito's reaction once he hears the news. He chuckled. They'd probably have to tie him down to keep him from leaving early.

As Kakashi left the mansion, he wondered when exactly was the right time to tell Obito of their new assignment. If he told him now, the Uchiha would just annoy everyone until they caved and left early. He was a lot like Gai. If both of them weren't so committed to proving themselves as his rival, they'd probably be good friends. It'd get both of them off his back for a while, at least.

But first he needed to find Rin, and tell her the good news. All he had to do was find her. The problem was, Kakashi had no idea where she lived. He had a good reason though; in the early days of Team 7, they only went to sensei's and Kakashi's house, since the sharingan user lived alone. Then again, so did Obito, but the Uchiha already regarded them beneath them. If Kakashi showed up with an implanted sharingan eye, it would probably cause a riot.

And so he set off for his apartment; If Obito didn't know where the brunette lived, no one else did.

Back at Kakashi's Place

"Again."

Why?! Why her? Kenjutsu training definitely wasn't anything like what she saw Kakashi doing. The brunette watched him perform katas, but he took breaks that extended past two minutes! This was insane! She should say something, anything to make it stop for at least a couple minutes. Her and her new teacher had been training non stop all the way past noon. The sun was starting to set already, when would this end?!

"Okay," With a grunt, Rin forced herself back on her feet, and shaky hands gripped the sword by it's handle. She was exhausted, and was certain she reeked of dirt and must by now. God, she wanted a shower. Rin wanted to say enough was enough, but her empathy forbade it each and every time. Kushina was probably trained just like this, maybe even worse. She was an Uzumaki after all, they were well known for their resilience.

Within seconds the redhead charged, blade drawn. Rin did her best to keep up with her teacher's strikes, but the kata she was instructed to use gave little room for improvisation. The brunette was supposed to infiltrate Kushina's offence with her defense. Block, block, roundhouse kick. But with the way Kushina attacked, the kata quickly became block, block, guard break, then on the ground all within eight seconds.

"Again."

Kushina watched her stagger up on her feet. Graze marks and scratches covered her body head to toe. Maybe it was time to call it a day, Kushina thought. Rin looked like she could pass out at any moment. "On second thought, I think we're done for today."

Rin's eyes widened. "R-really?"

"Yeah." Kushina held her nose. "Because you need a shower!"

The girl visibly deflated into a blushing mess. She smelled just as bad as she thought? Why couldn't she catch a break?! It didn't matter, she was free, free from her tyrannic teacher! Although she wanted to run home, the brunette could only limp out of the backyard, to a well deserved bath. "Meet me at the training field in two days, five AM sharp!" Kushina called.

Rin inwardly groaned. The cycle would continue, but at least she was given a day to relax. Turning around the brunette waved goodbye. "Alright, see you then!"

Once outside the house, Rin limped in her house's direction. Something had been bugging her, and it wasn't just Kushina's relentless training methods; It was the fact that everything seemed to be going right for her, comrades included. The last time it was this perfect, the Kannabi bridge mission was right around the corner.

But It wasn't anything too big, she was just scared something would go wrong, that she would be just as devastated as she was before. That it would be her fault once more, because she only wanted to protect those important to her.

And that thought scared her more than anything, because she wanted to protect her teammates. That was her dream.

Kakashi's Place

When Kakashi left Anko in his apartment, he hadn't expected her and Obito to be laughing as hard as they could, holding on to each other struggling to stand straight. The silverhead looked at the coffee table and saw a bottle of sake, and two cups. Hmm, he'd never seen Obito drunk before, it was a pretty amusing sight.

"A-and you should've seen his face when Rin almost found his Icha Icha book! He was like," Obito widened his eyes as far as possible, and spoke in a dunce voice. "W-what?! How did she almost find them?! I hid them where no one would even think to look. Obitoooo!" He mocked, nearly falling over laughing, Anko had to hold him up. The latter had noticed Kakashi walk in. "Hey, cyclops!"

"Anko." Kakashi shut the door, sighing. "How many drinks has he had?"

Anko thought on that, "Well, if I had to make an estimate, I'd have to say maybe…" She counted her fingers rambling imaginary mathematical units. "About four, maybe five." More like twelve or thirteen. The Uchiha challenged her to a drinking contest, proposing the winner receive the couch for the rest of the week. He through up on his fourth or fifth cup though..

"Anko, that bottle is nearly empty." The cyclops pointed out.

"Yeah well, consider this training for the future, look," The girl held Obito's face within her palms. "This guy's face is flushed, he's slurring, and can barely stand on his own two feet; There's no way in hell he's ever gonna drink again after his hangover tomorrow morning."

'But isn't he blushing because his face is real close to her breasts?' Kakashi wondered. "Whatever." The silverhead stepped closer to the Uchiha, intent on getting what he came for. "Obito, what is Rin's address?" He asked.

His face stirred, then chuckled. "Wait, you don't know? What kind of friend doesn't know where his own teammate lives?" Obito slurred.

Kakashi facepalmed. Apparently he would have to wait until tomorrow to let Rin know. Great. "Alright, I'm going to bed." The silverhead said, already on his way to his room.

"Hmph, whatevs. We could have fun without him!" Obito said, promptly before passing out right then and there, his head laying on the table adjacent to the couch. Anko blinked, then smirked before settling on the couch. He's gonna feel like his skull was bashed in tomorrow morning.

…

"Ughh," The Uchiha lifted his head from the table he apparently slept on, and stretched his arms out. Only to suddenly collapse on the table surface, his hands gripping his head desperate to relieve the pain he was feeling. "W-what the hell?" Obito grunted. He felt like he was under that boulder all over again.

He heard shifting from the couch behind him, and looked in that direction. There was Anko, with that smirk that never seemed to leave her face. "I told you so." She said, relaxing once more on the couch, apparently planning on sleeping in. She actually had; Anko warned him of drinking's consequences, but he wouldn't be quiet, so…she accepted his challenge. And won, of course.

"You, you, why didn't you stop me?" He asked, brows knitting together in frustration. Teammates didn't do that. Teammates helped each other out all the time, that's what a team was.

Anko turned over, facing him. "I did, but you wouldn't quit putting up a fuss."

Obito turned away from Anko, arms crossed with a childish pout. "Still." Silence reigned.

Anko got off the couch and made her way towards the kitchen, leaving the boy. As she searched the fridge and cabinets for dango ingredients, and settled for a simple toast breakfast when she didn't find any.

As she gathered the bread along with the toaster, Anko contemplated her team situation. She was with the goggles kid, the cyclops, and rectangle cheeks. She'd have to come up with a better nickname for Rin. Rectangle Cheeks probably wouldn't piss her off. The Uchiha kid would be pretty fun to mess with, so would cyclops; they could all tease him about his dirty books, and...She didn't know about the Rin girl. She seemed innocent, despite having experienced the horrors of the shinobi world war.

"That toast for me?" Kakashi asked from over her shoulder.

"Pfft. Make your own." Anko scoffed. Like she would make breakfast for anyone. Both shinobi heard a thud from the living room, then sweatdropped. He must of tried walking. What an idiot, he'd only been awake for a few minutes! He was lucky to have been able to stand with all the alcohol in his system. She walked to the living to hopefully watch a bit of tv before she brushed her teeth.

An amusing sight awaited her. There was Obito, sprawled out all over the floor, facing the kitchen. He had a bit of vomit on his shirt. Anko walked past his crawling form and plopped down on the couch. But after a few bites of her toast, the girl couldn't find the only item left for the perfect breakfast.

"Goggles, where's the remote?" She asked. Obito only moaned in response. "Cyclops, where'd you put the remote?!" Anko called.

"You don't have to yell, ask Obito. He had it last." Kakashi answered.

The snake mistress sighed. So much for the perfect breakfast. Wolfing down her piece of toast in a few bites, Anko got up and walked towards the bathroom.

After she left, the Uchiha slowly staggered to his feet, cautious of the vomit making it's way up his throat. He heard he should drink water after a hangover. Or was it coffee? Obito frowned; he didn't remember. Maybe Anko would know? If his jumbled memory served, she drank just as much as he did. So he took each step warily to way to the bathroom, stumbling just a bit along the way.

When the Uchiha reached the bathroom, he found Anko brushing her teeth. With his toothbrush… "Uhh, that's mine." He said, one hand holding his head in hopes of lowering his headache in vain.

Anko stopped for a moment, then kept on. "I know." the snake mistress said.

Obito nearly forgot why he came to the bathroom. Wait, no he didn't. "How do you get rid of a hangover?" He groggily asked.

Anko just about finished brushing her teeth, spitting out the toothpaste before placing the it in the cup on the sink. "Try coffee." She said.

The Uchiha followed her out, and and went for the kitchen. He saw Kakashi, leaning on the counter, making himself a cup of tea. He looked behind to see Obito limping to the the coffee maker. Well, the guy was going through a hangover, and he probably wouldn't have it in him to freak out and pack his stuff like a maniac. Maybe now would be a good time to tell him. "We're going on a mission at Kusagakure tomorrow." He said.

The Uchiha froze while pouring the coffee, then turned to his comrade. "You're serious?" He asked.

"Yes." He answered.

Suddenly Obito was in front of Kakashi, wrapping him in a near bone-crushing hug. "Oh man,what'dyousaywhendidyougetthereportwhenareweleaving?!"

"T-tomorrow." the silverhead answered in between gasps of breath, just barely processing what Obito had asked. Before he could pass out from oxygen deprivation, he was unceremoniously dropped him on the floor, his comrade dashing for his room. "Well, what are we waiting for, we gotta start packing!"

Anko walked next to the silverhead on the floor, who was gasping for breath. "Wait, coffee actually works?" She asked confused, "I thought it made it worse." She pondered.

"We-we have a mission, to Kusa, tomorrow." He said, forcing himself onto his feet. Anko froze as well, and the silverhead paled; he knew what was to come.

"What? Oh, man I gotta go pack!" Anko dashed towards the door, her demeanor having made a complete 180 degree turn, while Kakashi only groaned. Now he had two hyperactive idiots on his team.

Just as Anko yanked the door open, a girl with weird rectangle markings on her cheeks holding a piece of tupperware awaited her. Wait, "Rin Nohara?" She asked.

"Yes." The girl replied.

"Great! I'm Anko, new teammate we're going on a mission tomorrow kay, bye!" With that the snake mistress disappeared down the stairs.

"New...mission?" Rin asked no one, confusion apparent within her features.

 **Author's Note: So yeah, Anko's there, and they're going on a mission together, yay! Truth be told, she originally wasn't gonna be there this early. My plan was to have her assist Team 7 on a raid in one of Orochimaru's hideouts. There were a few problems though: Orochimaru had already defected (I knew he defected, I just didn't know when.), and why the hell would Minato send a bunch of chunin on a probably A-Rank mission to the hideout of Orochimaru, one of the strongest men in the shinobi world? Too many plot holes.**

 **And regarding the tsurugi, what you read was true; no one has absolutely any idea of who used it, what style it came with, nothing. Apparently it's future Sasuke's blade too. Maybe that's why Orochimaru had it first. He probably wanted to create a style for it as well.**

 **Team 7 all have their own hopes and ambitions now! Obito wants to prove himself to his clan, Kakashi wants to return honor his father's legacy, and Rin wants to protect her teammates. Not sure what Anko wants, though. But don't worry, I'll figure something out.**

 **See ya!**

 **Make my day, drop a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey! Long time no see, huh? Yeah, sorry about that, real world struggles and all. Glad people are enjoying the story, and thanks to the ones who dropped the reviews. Really brightened my week.**

 **Now, about my absence. I've discovered that while I enjoy writing, drawing is my true passion. Seriously, this is only late because I got caught up in all the art and such. But don't worry, I have most of this planned out. And as for the reviewer who asked what the pairings were, I'm not tellin. Sorry!**

 **If I revealed the parings, everything would be pretty much spoiled, and predictable then. And even if I did tell everyone what they were, it probably wouldn't be endgame. If one pairing seems more logical than the next, I'm going with that one; I don't wanna pull a Kishimoto.**

 **No offence to naruhina and sasusaku fans of course. I like the pairings, but I feel like it could have been delivered** _ **much**_ **better than what we got. Especially for the ending.**

 **Chapter 4: Mission to Kusa part 1: Team seven's arrival!**

 **Konoha Gates**

"Welp, goggles is dying today." Anko decided, leaning on a tree near the gates for support. Obito had kept them waiting for over forty minutes now, and although she wasn't the only impatient one at the moment, she sure as hell wouldn't just let this slide when he finally arrived. When she asked cyclops if Obito had been late like this before, he simply quoted the old saying, "Old habits died hard."

Normally, she would have left it at that and simply left, but apparently the raven was absolutely vital in the assignment and they wouldn't take off until he arrived, leaving one slightly annoyed (pissed off) Anko Mitarashi.

Weren't the Uchiha known for their promptness and punctuality? He definitely wouldn't be pulling this crap anytime soon after she was finished with him.

So while they waited, the shinobi were left to their own devices. Kakashi set to reading his not that secret book with the fake cover unknowingly upside down while giggling when he thought no one could hear. Rin, who had been looking into the gates for any sign of her favorite Uchiha, unsheathed her sword from its scabbard to polish it with a rag from her back pouch. As the brunette cleaned her blade, she began to reflect on her recent training.

Truthfully, Rin probably wasn't ready for a mission relying on just her sword; she had only been training with Kushina for two days. Her day off was unforgivingly revoked once her teacher found out about her newest assignment. Thinking back to her training, the brunette shivered; Her teacher may had attempted to cram most, if not all, the basic kenjutsu katas. She sighed, remembering Kushina's vow that she would learn to fight on water by the following month.

Footsteps audible, the shinobi turned. Behind was a sprinting Obito, cheeks flushed as he was quickly running out of breath. Catching up with them before his teammates could leave, he heaved over, panting. "Guys *pant* sorry I'm *pant* late."

Anko came over, towering over the Uchiha, a sick glint in her eyes while cracking her knuckles. "You're gonna wis-." But she was interrupted.

"Wait! Wait! I can explain!" Obito cried, raising his hands in the universal sign of surrender before Anko could possibly mutilate him, "There was this old lady." the raven began.

Kakashi sighed, already well accustomed to his comrade's excuses. "She needed help carrying her bags." He cut in.

"So you helped her." Rin finished, keeping her gaze on her newly polished weapon.

"But-"

"She forgot where she lived." Rin finished again.

"Well, what did you expect me to do? Just dump them somewhere?"

Kakashi stepped towards his raven-haired comrade. "Actually, yes." Obito was becoming irritant. "You see, normally when you're late, I scold you, Rin defends you, then we're off." He motioned at Anko. "But now, we're with her. There's two hyperactive ninja on team 7." Obito looked over and took note of her position. She was staring intently, arms folded, and was probably pissed under the seemingly friendly grin.

"Obito, get over here." Anko called. Looked like cyclops set the groundwork necessary. She watched the raven slowly make his way over.

Suddenly, the two were face to face. Anko had grabbed him by the collar. "You're never gonna be late to another mission again. I don't care if that old lady is on the ground, starving, sick, while having a stroke, and an aneurysm, you come here on time, got it?" She ordered with a stern glare

He nodded profusely, making sure to smile as he did so. "G-got it."

"Good!" Her glare shifted to another innocent smile. "I mean it~!" She chirped, her personality having turned another 180 degree.

"Uhh, we should...we should go." Rin suggested, feeling the one-sided tension between the raven and the snake mistress. Specifically, Obito's fear.

"Alright then, let's move out." The silverhead said.

They shot off into the forest, setting trajectory for the Land of Grass. Within minutes they were already deep into the forest, only woodland visible within their lines of vision. They moved in a diamond formation, with Kakashi in the lead, Anko and Obito on the sides, and Rin at the rear. As they hopped off each branch Obito spoke, hoping to clear the dead air.

"So...what's the plan?" He asked.

"If we keep up at this pace, and take two rest stops, we'll be there within twenty-eight hours." Kakashi answered.

"What about when we get there?" Rin inquired.

"We'll go to the Kusakage's office first, then wait for further instruction. Until then, maybe hit up a few dango stands, and even a casino or two." Anko informed, a smirk already forming.

"I was gonna say something like that…" Kakashi mumbled.

Their plans discussed, silence reigned until something else came to the Uchiha. "You think maybe those casinos'll have a bakery somewhere?" He asked. If there weren't any sweets he'd simply remain in the motel room until they left. Wait...did he pack his stash? He wasn't able to get much done in the morning rush when he found out his teammates left without him. He packed his bags in a frenzy, grabbed a leftover cinnamon bun, then left. He didn't even have time brush his teeth.

"Maybe, but they'll all probably be spiked." She answered. Obito frowned. He had already gotten a buzz off of sake just yesterday, adding acid to the imaginary list probably wouldn't have been best for his reputation. Not that he had much of one to begin with, but still! "Oh." He said.

Silence kept its hold, only their tree leaping audible.

"Hey, Rin." The girl's attention shifted from the seemingly endless forest ahead to the Uchiha on her right. "If Kusa's as green as people say it is, there's probably a bunch of training fields there. You could show me some of the stuff Kushina's been teaching you."

"Yeah Rin, you could show him your moves." Anko teased.

The raven almost tripped on the branch he landed on. Blushing furiously, he tried desperately to excuse himself. "W-what!? No, not like that, not like that at all! I was talking about training and stuff, that's it!" He failed miserably.

Rin blushed just as intensely. "Uhh

She blushed, smiling for the first time since they left. "Well, I'm a bit rusty." Rin admitted.

"No way! If Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Death of Konoha's been teaching you, your rusty's probably our awesome." Obito complimented.

"Thanks, Obito."

The raven smiled back at her, grinning so wide his eyes closed shut. "No problem." He said, with a thumbs up at the end before looking ahead once more.

Then, Obito shot forward ahead of everyone. "But don't forget I'm still the best of the best!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened, just before he followed after him. "Idiot! We're supposed to stay in formation!" The silverhead called.

"..."

"Boys." Rin said, looking over at Anko who nodded in agreement. The snake mistress nodded, agreeing before following suit, taking the lead.

 **Hidden Leaf Forest**

Team 7 traveled the seemingly endless prairie landscape together, using the dirt path provided for passing tourists on their way to Kusa no Kuni. The sun had already set, no one said a word, and silence reigned supreme. The moonlight illuminated their forms from behind, their shadows following them with their steady pace.

"Are we almost there yet?" Obito Uchiha asked, hoping to lay the first stone for conversation.

"Nope." Anko answered in monotone. The snake mistress for once agreed with her new teammate. Although her mind was eased knowing Kusa would be in view within possibly less than another hour, it had no effect on her impatience.

All in all, she was just as bored as her raven-haired teammate. "We could, I don't know play a road game? It's getting pretty dull up here." She offered.

"Road game? Like I spy?" Rin suggested.

"Nah, that's gets old quick. Twenty questions?"

"Does Obito look like someone who could answer twenty questions?" Kakashi asked from the lead.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" The boy in question asked, ready to defend his pride if need be.

"I think I see the village up ahead." Rin interjected, hoping to dispose of any tension before it could sprout. It worked, as the rest of her team lunged forward in an attempt to reach their destination as fast as possible. True to her word, the brunette saw a huge wall up ahead, near a large forest. Closer observation revealed it's buildings in the process of repair, with wood platforms hanging off the sides to make room for the construction workers.

A guard-nin patrolled the gates looking out for anything potentially dangerous, "State your business." He ordered, reaching for his kunai with a trembling hand.

Kakashi produced the mission report scroll from his backpack, indicating their business with the Kusakage. The scroll handed over, the shinobi entered the village, and the guard returned to his post.

Once inside, en route to the Kusakage Mansion, Obito took in his surroundings. Green was everywhere in sight. Foliage covered most, if not all of the urban landscape within his field of vision. Each home, bound for reconstruction, compared more to primitive huts than anything else, and resembled giant treehouses somehow rooted into the ground.

"Hey." Obito said, tapping Rin's shoulder. "You think everyone here's all vegan?"

The brunette held her chin in contemplation. It was a plausible theory, but it wasn't as if she knew much of Kusagakure, other than the destroyed kannabi bridge…She looked around. There weren't any stands open, probably because it was already nightfall. "I can't say, what do you think Kakashi?" She turned towards her one-eyed teammate.

"Probably not. The nutrients in meat are essential for maintaining muscle mass, required for shinobi of any stature." He said.

"Hmm, makes sense."

"Not really." Anko opposed. "This village went through a war. Just look around you." She instructed, a distant expression adorning her face. Everyone followed. Although her statement was brief, her team did as instructed and got the message.

Poverty reigned.

And the villagers were probably too poor to afford the meat that hadn't been poisoned. The snake mistress could recall a covert mission in the village during the third shinobi war. the task itself was pretty simple; poison the entire food supply, mainly the cattle. With the destruction of the Kannabi bridge, they were already running low, she and her "sensei" were sent to put it out of it's misery.

It was over pretty quick. Their snakes provided a decent cover with little interaction with enemy shinobi; They just dumped the snakes, then slipped out. When the animals fell one by one, the snakes took the blame.

So she was technically half-responsible for the village's present condition.

"But that doesn't mean they aren't vegan." Obito pointed out.

"Yes it does."

"Nope." The Uchiha replied stubbornly, folding his arms, much a child.

The snake mistress sighed. The rest of the walk stroll was uneventful, and the debate continued, simple logic failing to transcend Obito's ignorance. After a short while, they saw a huge tree, maybe three stories, blocking their path. The mansion, probably.

"Did the shodaime make this?" Rin pondered. That was just about the biggest tree she had ever seen, standing just as tall as the Hokage Mansion. The lookout towers surrounding it made the brunette wonder just how many people had to die for them to build up security like this.

"Woah, this place looks nice. For a tree, I mean." Anko complimented, taking note of the interior. The mansion seemed to be a gigantic tree converted to function as a tower. The lobby was pretty generic; there were portraits of past Kusakages, rows of chairs on each side of the room respectively, and a front desk. Surprisingly, nothing in the room was made from wood.

"How may I help you?" The receptionist asked.

Kakashi stepped forward. "We're here to see the Kusakage, we're the Konoha shinobi."

The help arriving this early? That was unusual. Normally foreign shinobi wouldn't take the village serious enough to actually arrive on time. A warm smile crossed the receptionist's features. It was nice to know that could be changing with the next generation, even if they were considered enemies just about a month ago. "He's been expecting you. Please, follow me." She stood up from her desk, and lead them to the Kusakage's office, going through multiple hallways before reaching a set of stairs. Meant to confuse them of course. Couldn't risk Kusa's safety, even if the mansion was too heavily guarded for enemies to get far. Seriously, Obito counted four guard-nin for every hallway they walked past.

But it made sense for them to be on their toes. There was an abductor on the loose. The Kusakage's probably been through more than a few kidnap attempts.

"Well, I must return to my duties. Goodbye, and good luck on your mission." The receptionist's job completed, she bid them farewell, exiting the same way she came.

Obito knocked twice, opening the door upon hearing a hoarse "Enter."

The raven analyzed the Kusakage. He appeared to be in his late sixties, and possessed unusual yellow eyes. "Ah, the shinobi from Konoha, welcome." He scratched at his shaggy green hair. "Please, have a seat." He asked, motioning to the row of seats in front, mindful of the cup of coffee on the edge of his desk. "I hope the journey wasn't too unforgiving."

"Nah, it was fine. Just really boring." The raven said, taking a seat. This guy didn't seem so bad. He seemed familiar, though, Obito just couldn't pinpoint where.

"Good." the kage said.

The chuunin seated, the kage explained, but not before taking another sip of his coffee. "As you know, there have been multiple unexplained…'absences' from within the village."

"Yes." Kakashi answered.

"Well." He rubbed his temples. "Our intelligence department thinks they've found a lead." He fished a photograph from his desk and presented it. The chuunin inspected it closely, all except the stoic jonin recoiling in a mix of surprise and disgust. That was definitely adopted it to memory.

"I see." The silverhead said, taking the picture.

"..." Anko unconsciously reached for her curse seal. While her composure was one well kept, she was panicking inside as her mind raced. That...thing in the photo, even if the beast took up most of the frame; it was one of Orochimaru's experiments, curse seal level two activated, gray skin and all. Did that mean he was here, in Kusa?

"What is that?" Obito inquired. It possibly captured the photographer's final moments. He was smirking like a maniac with his fist outstretched. It made him wonder how anyone managed to find the camera after it was taken.

"We're not sure. This is all we have so far." The kage answered.

"Kusakage-sama, could you tell us exactly how this was taken?" The silverhead asked.

Sighing, the kage began. "That picture was taken by one of Kusa's elite. He and his squadron was scouting for the captor. He found him, and against orders, engaged, fortunate enough to take the photograph before he was ultimately killed."

"So you want us to find that thing." Anko stated.

The elder kage smiled, happy they were beginning to understand their purpose. "Yes."

"Were there any patterns, did he target a specific group of people?" Kakashi asked. Narrowing it down would maybe highlight his search patterns, or even shed some light on his motives, making it easier to finally catch him.

"No. His victims were regular people, some shinobi included." The old man remembered, "But they were all taken at night only."

Anko scoffed. Bastard never did discriminate. She would bet every dango stand this pit town had that he was just letting his minions run wild at night. Changing sitting positions, she wondered if she should send a messenger bird back to Konoha.

"Hmm." Obito's train of thought, however, led towards the creature identity. Brows scrunched together, he gathered up everything they knew currently. It was obvious whatever that thing was was responsible for all the kidnappings, but apparently that was all anyone knew. Meanwhile, his motives were unclear, and it was unknown if there were more than one of those things.

"Seems simple enough, anything else?" Kakashi asked, relaxing into his seat.

"He is known to be inhumanly fast, be careful."

"That'll be fine, my comrade's sharingan should remedy that." Kakashi said, pointing to Obito.

The raven grinned. "Damn right it will!" He pumped out his fist,now standing up on his chair. "Don't worry old man, this monster's gonna be gone by next week, we'll make sure of it!" He bawled, already envisioning his team's victory.

Until Anko pushed the back of his knees, forcing them to buck, and in turn, him to sit down. "Quit being an idiot." She ordered, annoyed. Orochimaru's potential presence was already starting to get to her.

"Alright, alright. You only had to say something." Obito mumbled.

 **Inn Hotel - Out Back**

 _Thud_

Anko readied another kunai.

 _Thud_

She hit her target(the tree) dead on each time, but would hear the same voice taunting her with each throw.

 _Better luck next time._

 _Thud._ Bullseye.

 _Your form could be better._

"Dammit." Gritting her teeth, the snake mistress flung four kunai in one hand, like she had been taught. Each one hit it's mark perfectly, but was still somehow able to frustrate her.

 _You'll never get far as a shinobi, Anko…_

She walked over to the tree, and began to plucked her kunai from the wood, only to stop midway, realizing two completely missed their mark.

 _you don't have the drive._

"FUCK!" She jabbed, creating a dent in the tree trunk, cracks visible. Recoiling her fist, ignoring the stinging pain from her now splintered knuckles, Anko plopped down onto the grass.

She was a fool for mistaking training for a stress reliever. She couldn't sleep. Not when the one she hated was probably somewhere close. Did he even know she was there? Was he watching her? Would he toss her aside during their confrontation, or would he just kill her?

No. That wouldn't happen. She wouldn't _let_ that happen. He would be tried for each and every one of his crimes one day. It was her responsibility…

"Anko?"

The snake mistress peered behind. "Square cheeks?"

Rin sat down next to her. "Is that my nickname?"

"Yep. Your new nickname for life." Anko answered, laying down. "How did you know I was out here, anyway?"

Rin had actually heard her leave, but decided against following her. Until she heard her curse whatever was bothering her. "You were pretty loud." She explained.

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

"Describe your teammates." Anko quickly ordered lightly, before Rin could ask why she wasn't inside the motel.

"Hmm?"

"Your teammates, Goggles and Cyclops. I only know their names y'know." Anko supported herself on her elbow. "Start with ol' one eye." She smirked. "I've seen the way you look at him."

Rin stiffened. She knew? Anko's known them for only two days! "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, yeah." Anko waved offhandedly. "But seriously, tell me about him."

The brunette sighed, and gave in, her thoughts on her comrade. "Kakashi is a bit of loner, and only lets people he trusts in. It might take some time to get him to trust you."

"Pfft, yeah, yeah whatever." Anko remarked offhandedly. It wouldn't surprise him if he already knew who her former sensei was.

"He's a softie under everything, though." The brunette smiled fondly.

"What's everything? His pants?" The snake mistress teased.

"W-what? No!" Rin's cheeks blazed scarlet for the second time that day.

"Heh, yeah alright." She'd been wondering about this one. "What about the goggles kid."

"Obito?" She stared up, genuine contemplation prevalent. What did she think of him? A friend? A brother? Her knight in shining armor? He did somehow escape the unknown impossible and was rather thrown back into her life. Maybe she was overthinking things because she missed him alot when he was gone. "Well, I've always looked out for him, even when we were kids." Her mouth curved upwards, remembering handing a saved sign-up sheet to a little boy with goggles. "I was his first friend. He always got picked on because he hadn't activated his sharingan at that time. It got to him, but...Obito doesn't want to feel like a burden, so he hides what's bothering him. I usually have to force him to say anything about it."

The snake mistress listened closely, paying close attention to Goggles' description. She wished she had someone who talked about her with that thoughtful expression, without the usual pity and sympathy she was often regarded with. "...You think he'll open up somehow?" Anko asked.

"Yeah. Maybe."

The two fell into silence, Rin finding interest in the cosmos above, Anko finding solace in her memories, when she was a member of team 4.

Before she decided the past wasn't something she found much comfort in. "Welp," She said, propelling herself up suddenly. "I think I'll head back for the room." With that she left, leaving the brunette to the night sky.

"She kinda reminds me of Obito." She mused, before following after Anko.

 **Next Day**

While nature definitely was calming on its own for the first hour, sitting in the same spot for any longer could quickly become the bane of any energetic shinobi's existence, such as Obito.

The morning wasn't so bad, though. They rounded up all the info they were given, and formed a plan of action; although the Kusakage said his abductions were all random, the civilians said otherwise. Apparently there was a bounty on the thing's head for over fifty thousand ryo, and most of the shinobi—civilians included all wanted in, and looking for any sign of it. After asking around, one said he saw something flash around the village outskirts, in the forest.

But of course, he couldn't remember the flash's origin exactly, so the Konoha shinobi were split into three teams with different zones to watch for any sign. The sharingan users went solo, Obito covering the north, Kakashi the south, with Rin and Anko watching over the west.

He was so _bored_! There wasn't much action, only watching, _waiting_ for the worst to emerge from God knows where.

He only hoped Rin was having a better time than he was…

She wasn't. Anko was too antsy to even remain in one place without jumping on another branch every few minutes. Her usual smirk was replaced with frustration. She absolutely refused to remain still. The brunette first noticed in the morning during the briefing.

 _ **Flashback**_

" _Alright. His abductions are centered here, here, and here." Kakashi informed, gesturing to a fold out map of Kusa. Team 7 was centered around the desk in their motel room, each member focused, and ready to officially begin their investigation._

" _So in the village outskirts." Rin simplified._

" _Yes."_

" _What about his appearance? All we got is a horribly taken photo, and a pretty vague description of what this thing actually is." Obito said, contributing to the discussion._

" _He's right. We don't even know what we're looking for." Anko agreed, arms folded._

" _Well, it has grey skin, it shouldn't be that hard to spot." Rin said._

" _But the Kusakage said it was super fast, in and off combat." Everyone's gaze shifted to the Uchiha. "So how about Kakashi scopes out the north sector, and I'll scope out the west; our sharingan should help us keep track of everything."_

 _Kakashi paused, consideration prevalent. "Sounds like a plan. Anko, Rin, You two will watch the south; you'll be able to cover each other if anything shows."_

" _Fine." The snake mistress agreed._

" _So we're all set then. Any questions?" The silverhead asked, nodding to himself when no one objected. "Good."_

 _ **Flashback End**_

"Cheeks." Anko called, tapping her comrade. "We gotta go."

The brunette sighed. "Again?"

"Yes!" The snake mistress replied sharply, surprising Rin. "That thing could be anywhere. It could be _watching_ us right now. So if you wanna kill this thing, we gotta go. Again."

"Fine." They shot off into the forest, the brunette hoping they'd run into Kakashi to switch partners with every branch passed. Finally they settled on one branch temporarily, before they inevitably would have to relocate later.

The silverhead, on the other hand wasn't nearly as bored as his teammates; he began reading his Icha Icha after the first fifteen minutes. He was starting to reach past the plot and into the smut.

"Hoo hoo~! Miyoshi you dirty girl~! Four-hundred and thirty-seven pages of the world's greatest literature granted to the five shinobi nations by the talented Master-Jiraiya!" He giggled, glad his mask absorbed the blood rushing from his nose.

What? There wasn't anything expected to happen for the next hour or two. This was _his_ reading time.

Until it was interrupted by a shrill scream permeating the peaceful silence. He put his book away, and dashed towards the source, sharingan revealed. This was their chance to at least get a good description if they don't catch him.

The raven had similar thoughts as he leaped off branch after branch. Things were starting to get interesting.

It wasn't long before the shinobi found each other. "Where is it?!" Anko demanded, nearly frantic.

"Don't know, it's coming from somewhere around here." The raven answered.

"Genjutsu?" Rin asked.

"No. Our sharingan would've picked it up."

The scream returned, putting the shinobi on edge. "Over there!" Obito warned. It charged.

As it came closer, the raven realized the Kusakage wasn't exaggerating; this thing was crazy fast. His sharingan was the only thing keeping him on par with the enemy's barrage before he encountered an attack he had to cross-block.

Obito had little time to dwell on his arms' sudden uselessness when he was kicked across the makeshift arena and slammed against the nearest tree, watching his comrades engage immediately after. Something was off. When he blocked, his arm felt numb all over.

Dammit! Who was this guy?

The enemy switched between the shinobi's attacks effortlessly, dodging fists, kicks, and kunai, even using Anko's momentum to re-route her attack towards the silverhead, who gained distance before before he could've been toppled down.

"Surrender, It's four against one, you can't win!" Kakashi commanded. Everyone was able to get a good look at him now that he was surrounded. Each took note of his attire: tattered kimono shirt, with shinobi pants, and no footwear. What stood out most was his unnatural grey skin, and his blue mane reaching past his waist.

And his eyes…

They were transparent, almost ghastly in appearance, the irises barely visible, surrounded by veins sprouting from his eyes to his temples.

Anko, along with her fellow teammates' eyes widened at the realization. He was a Hyuuga!

But that was impossible! Her sensei wasn't allowed anywhere near the Hyuuga compound! The fucking elders nearly lost their shit when Katanashi was assigned to Team 4. How did Orochimaru manage to get his hands on a Hyuuga?! Katanashi was the only Hyuuga...he had any contact with…

 _ **Flashback**_

 _She didn't have to see his face to know he was already coughing up blood._

 _And it was all her fault…this was her doing. If she hadn't followed the damn enemy like he instructed her not to, she wouldn't have been led to the ambush. There'd be no promise of death hanging in the air, and Katanashi wouldn't have had to stand in the way of an incoming attack at the last second with his body, the blade protruding out of his back._

" _Go Anko._ now." _The Hyuuga commanded with as much assertiveness as he could muster._

 _Her eyes widened, and Anko shook her head to keep her from breaking down in tears. "No."_

" _You want to prove yourself to Orochimaru-sensei don't you?" He wouldn't live past today. He knew it, the Kumo shinobi knew it, and when he peered behind to give her one last toothy grin, Anko slowly came to realize it too. "You can't do that if you die here."  
_ _ **Flashback end**_

No.

That was impossible! He was dead!

Wasn't he?

"Don't underestimate me, or I will end you all." He warned.

 **Author's Note: My intention was to flesh out Anko's character in this chapter. Hopefully I did well.**

 **Also, if you noticed Katanashi's appearance was similar to Sasuke's second curse seal transformation, It isn't because I'm too lazy to create a new seal, nor is it because I'm uninformed how curse seals work, because trust me, I am. They're nearly identical because the curse seal's the same. Believe it or not, the second stage transformation doesn't reflect the person's personality at all.**

 **In the Sasuke recovery mission, each of the Sound Four had different markings and transformations because their seals were different. If Anko ever did activate her's, the transformation would look exactly like Sasuke's.**

 **Now that that's outta the way, more onto Anko just in case you haven't caught on; Orochimaru might be within her immediate area, and because of it, it brings back some negative emotions for her. Orochimaru made her feel weak, incompetent, and like a failure, so she's subconsciously looking for him so she could not only run a kunai up his ass, but to also prove him wrong, and show him just how strong she really is.**

 **As for why I wasn't posting anything, well...art is life. And procrastination's a pain.**

 **If you have any questions, concerns or even suggestions, feel free to drop a review and let me know! I love getting feedback!**


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